More Than Just a Daycare.

USAID Macedonia is celebrating International Women's day throughout the month by taking a closer look at some of the women and girls who have benefited from our projects and who, as a result, are making a difference in their families, their schools, and their communities.

Being an entrepreneur is more than just being a good businessman or woman. It's about identifying a need and finding a way to fill it. Inspired by her own frustration from not having suitable child care options while at work, Qanie Selimi established the Rea Educational Center in her home town of Tetevo. With support from USAID, Qanie's childcare business now employs five other women and looks after 30 children. Qanie is focused on providing care for the children, but in doing so she's providing something equally important. She's giving each of the mothers of these 30 children the freedom to support her family by working outside the home.

USAID's Women's Entrepreneurship Initiative is growing local economies by empowering women to fill the needs of their communities. By helping women entrepreneurs make their businesses more productive, we are creating jobs and increasing incomes. In the second half of 2013 we supported four small businesses in the Polog region, doubling their production capacity and creating 33 new jobs in the process. The initiative will continue to finance the best business expansion ideas of women entrepreneurs in 2014.